Death

In most mythologies or belief structures the main goal of its design is to assure the believer that they may physically die but that is not the end of them. There is a concept of a soul, a living soul that will never cease to be. All these beliefs systems take away fear of death and replace it with a feeling of anticipation and acceptance.

Many believers of such creative fancies believe that life, physical life, is a lesser existence, and that worldly concerns are of lesser importance. If the main goal of every believer is to have a pleasurable afterlife then this life becomes cheapened as a sort of limbo. In which the believer spends much of their time contemplating what pleasures they will experience after they die and not while they live.

However, in these belief structures not everyone can have the eternal pleasure that awaits death. Every belief structure has designed rules which tell the believer what they must do in order to experience pleasure after death and not pain or oblivion. These rules are as common sense as the disapproval of murder and as outlandish as not working on a certain day of the week or being a certain gender. This provides the believer with a sense of universal justice and control over their afterlife.

I pose a question. How helpful and productive is the believer to the living world? Would a believer put all of themselves in something that could benefit mankind greatly? Or are most believers only surviving this life mundanely in anticipation for the next?

Atheism is a growing concept. Atheism is the acceptance that no belief structure involving the existence of an omnipotent being is correct. Most atheists come to this conclusion after reading the “holy” literature of these beliefs and finding too many flaws to ignore. It is a process that could take years and heartache as the once believers realizes that there are no gods and that it is solely up to them to make their only lives as they see fit.

However the biggest hurdle in this journey, second to nothing, is the fear of death. Without the ability to lean of a belief structure that promises an eternal soul the ex-believer feels anxiety over dying. Oblivion is a scary concept. None-existence is a daunting thought. Death is the end of you, you as a being, in every sense of the word, will be no more. How do you deal?

The sooner you realize that death is the end of all ends the sooner you can do something about it. What I mean to say is that life is precious and it should not be cheapened by the anticipation of a fanciful afterlife but rather lived to the fullest! If death is the end then live not a poor life. Do great things. Create for yourself a legacy of good deeds, inventions, discoveries, novels, movies, artwork…Change the world for good and you will live forever in the minds and hearts of the living world.

If you’ve done nothing in the world but live a mundane life in which you’ve compromised left and right, always with your eyes on a pleasurable afterlife that will never be then you have lived a very poor life and will be forgotten in two generations, and you probably suffer from depression…

But it doesn’t have to be this way. One act of greatness is all you need. Just think to yourself, “what can I do that will make this world a better place?” design a better car? Write an inspiring novel? Take in foster kids and instill in them a passion for life? Build a group of volunteers that help others? Design public policies that work better than those in place today? Build a bridge?

You don’t have to do great things to make your name live on after you have gone in order to live a full life. You can be utterly selfish too. You only get one life so live it. No compromises, no settling. Marry the person you want to, or marry no one if you wish. Live off the grid, join the army, live as a gipsy, do as you like, be one hundred percent you with a devil may care grin and bad posture. No one has to live your life but you, so why live by the expectations of others?

This line of thinking doesn’t create criminals. Desperation, sick minds, and poor parenting create criminals. A child raised to value life, respect others and pursue that which is curious will never be a criminal…maybe a public nuisance in their teens but who wasn’t? Can you imagine how productive the human race would be if we all thought this way…we would have colonies on Mars by now...

What does death mean to an atheist? Death to an atheist is the end of a very good story.

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Death is the end of all. End of suffering, pain, fear and anger. End of joy, contentment, hope and love. Live your life like it's the only one you get so you can minimize your regrets at the end of it.